Are Obots paid Obama agents?

No

That answer could be the end of the article. Conspiracy theorists have long thought that the powerful conspirators can not only be blamed for whatever catastrophe has happened, a financial crisis, natural disaster, or Barack Obama becoming president, but also for preventing the conspiracy theorists from convincing the rest of the world of their version of the truth. I see this often as I comment at Birther Report, being asked how much I’m paid to betray my country. (I personally think that battling birthers is patriotic.) Here’s a more or less random example reply to me last year:

We know Soetoro’s birth certificate and Selective Service are forged, paid OBOT shill.

You are a VILE toad…

That latter conspirator role has become an increasing theme in comments and tweets from certain fringe sources. Commenter “helen” linked to one of them, an article titled: “The Conspiracy Theory Is True: Agents Infiltrate Websites Intending To “Manipulate, Deceive, And Destroy Reputations” by Tyler Durden (a pseudonym) who puts it succinctly:

In the annals of internet conspiracy theories, none is more pervasive than the one speculating paid government plants infiltrate websites, social network sites, and comment sections with an intent to sow discord, troll, and generally manipulate, deceive and destroy reputations. Guess what: it was all true.

The particular perpetrator of Internet manipulation in the Durden story is GCHQ, the British analog to the American NSA. The article is long, and I didn’t read it completely, nor delve into the fine print of the lines and arrows, but as far as I can tell, it doesn’t identify domestic conspiracy theorists as the targets, nor do any of the documents “leaked” suggest that the intent is to target crackpots.

The great crime in all of this, so says the article, is that it threatens the “integrity of the Internet.” Intelligence services trying to plant disinformation have been around for probably thousands of years. Corporations, governments, and political parties are not stupid; they know the value of public opinion. There have been other disclosures of corporations using fake accounts on social media to do damage control or promote a product. Richard Nixon’s re-election committee practiced dirty tricks long before there was an Internet. To my mind, the great error in judgment made by Mr. Durden is his implicit belief that the Internet has integrity in the first place, at least any more integrity than any other aspect of life.

The leap conspiracy theorists make is to turn the capability of someone to sow disinformation among them or about them into the reality of it happening. Such capability is nothing new: I wrote about it three years ago in my article, “Engineered crisis.” It would be a mistake for anyone who values public opinion not to try to shape it through the Web and social media, and it would be a mistake to take anything one sees on the Internet at face value. I think the wise approach is expressed by the Russian proverb, Доверяй, но проверяй, “trust, but verify.” I do not expect anyone to believe me who does not know me, and this is why I take extra pains to provide sources for the information I present. This important distinction is usually lost on birthers (obvious in a current thread at Birther Report).

To the original question, I would answer more fully that I know personally several of the main anti-birthers, and none of them are paid to blog or comment about birthers. It come naturally out of a desire to correct misinformation and to appeal to our better natures. If the birthers had anything like real proof, they would have no problem getting a hearing, but they don’t and they won’t.

About Dr. Conspiracy

I'm not a real doctor, but I have a master's degree.
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56 Responses to Are Obots paid Obama agents?

  1. JPotter says:

    “Tyler Durden” …. heh. At least that author chose a fitting pen name. That of a (fictional) paranoid, self-assured, nutbag*. I trust this keybored warrior isn’t planning to blow up any financial centers.

    * If not familiar, it’s a character from Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club, played by Brad Pitt in the 1999 film adaptation. A great film, if not taken seriously … unfortunately, it does push all of the typical CT nut’s buttons, and was tailor-made for CT nuts to take seriously—in their dark, twisted dreams, at least.

  2. Andrew Vrba, PmG says:

    Gee, if we’re all paid Obama agents, my checks sure are late getting here.

  3. Jim says:

    WE’RE NOT GETTING PAID?!?!?!?! Oh man, wonder if I can get that down payment for the boat back?

  4. I tell you, that Soros whateverhisnameis guy is going to be off my Christmas card list…no damn check for me, despite 3 years of being a loyal Obot.

  5. Paul says:

    What’s even funnier — I’ve read comments on Orly’s site from people who actually think Obama HIMSELF is reading and commenting

  6. Dave says:

    The only website I know of that has comments from Barack Obama is Daily Kos — and that was before he was President.

  7. democratista says:

    I’ll still waiting for that paycheck that I’m told I earned.

  8. realist says:

    Well, there you go, Doc, planting that false flag that we Obots are not paid. This article will be reported by birthers as exactly that in 3…2…1 In addition to how scared we must be to have to deny being paid. Disinformation Highway indeed.

  9. Yoda says:

    As always, birthers have it ass backwards. In the very unlikely event that the US Government felt the need to infiltrate or disseminate misinformation to birthers, they would not use birther debunkers to do so. Rather, they would use people who pretend to be birthers to infiltrate the websites and post ever increasingly wild speculation and “facts” that push the envelope outward to marginalize the entire movement by making it look like ridiculous, hate filled racists and lunatics.

    It is far more likely that Martha Trowbridge, Carl Gallups, Geir Smith, Orly Taitz and Larry Klayman are working on behalf of the government than it is that Foggy, RC, Dr. Conspiracy or NBC are government agents. As for me, I just like making fun of the monumentally stupid.

  10. Curious George says:

    What I’d like to know….who is paying the main Birthers over at BR? Falcon spreads vile, contemptable misinformation, personally attacks people and then acts as though his actions are patriotic. This because many people can see through the many lies of the gullible Birther crowd. Do I work for Obama? Not at all. Do I get paid? Again, no. Do I object to the lies and the ridiculous claims of the misled over at BR? Yes. It’s time for the Birther faithful to look in the mirror and reassess their lives.

  11. Keith says:

    Andrew Vrba, PmG:
    Gee, if we’re all paid Obama agents, my checks sure are late getting here.

    Check?

    Huh. That’s so Twentieth Century. My pay is direct deposited and is transferred directly from the slush fund in Nigeria.

  12. roxy7655 says:

    Keith: Check?

    Huh. That’s so Twentieth Century. My pay is direct deposited and is transferred directly from the slush fund in Nigeria.
    I stipulated pre-revaluation dinar. Not that I have anywhere to spend it…

  13. Daniel says:

    When asked something along the lines of

    “How much is Obama paying you?”

    I usually answer with

    “I get the standard $2000 per month retainer, $180 per billable hour, $0.25 per word… and a $1000 bonus every time some moron asks me how much I’m getting paid for something I’d do for free; making fun of birther delusions.

    Thanx Mr.xxxxxx, you just paid off my kid’s orthodontist bills”

    That usually shuts them up.

  14. sactosintolerant says:

    I wonder how many birthers seriously believe this. I can smell attempts at humor, snark, sarcasm, etc a mile away from anti-birthers, but I take all birthers at their literal word. I’m sure some birthers believe this, but isn’t it possible we’re just not in tune with their sense of what’s funny?

  15. Daniel says:

    sactosintolerant: I wonder how many birthers seriously believe this.

    My sense is that a lot of them do.

    Remember that these are people who seriously believe Obama is a usurper. AS ridiculous as the idea that we are paid is, it’s no more delusional than that.

  16. BillTheCat says:

    This has always been the last argument of the desperate conspiracy theorist. When all else fails in making your pitch in the face of facts, it’s time to turn to “you get paid to do this” because after all, money dilutes the fact-pool and so the argument is null and void.

    This is what conspiracy nut jobs ACTUALLY BELIEVE.

  17. bob says:

    Unlike Adam Kokesh, who was a correspondent for a time for RT, which is funded by the Russian government.

  18. alg says:

    You mean you guys haven’t gotten your stipend yet? I’m on the monthly plan and I use the funds to pay off my Acura ZDX. The whole deal was part of Obama’s original stimulus package.

  19. Jim says:

    alg:
    You mean you guys haven’t gotten your stipend yet?I’m on the monthly plan and I use the funds to pay off my Acura ZDX.The whole deal was part of Obama’s original stimulus package.

    Wasn’t that BUSH’S stimulus package? They think everyone else that disagrees with them is a paid agent, that just HAS to include Bush. After all, Bush did allow Obama to legally take office.

  20. Arthur says:

    Curious George: What I’d like to know….who is paying the main Birthers over at BR?

    Well, R.C. claims to know who Falcon is, and Falcon claims to know who R.C. is, yet neither one is ready to spill the beans.

  21. Arthur says:

    Keith: My pay is direct deposited and is transferred directly from the slush fund in Nigeria.

    I’m paid in Linden dollars for use in Second Life where I am a two-head flying rhinoceros named “Ionesco.”

  22. Arrogantlyignorant says:

    There’s a commenter on YouTube who goes by mollesjohn. He says that I and other Obots are paid to “scroll off” his comments so Congress won’t see them.

    I’m shooting for the yellow Lamborghini bonus Mr Soros is offering as incentive.

  23. donna says:

    Soros pays my mortgage and taxes – no check required 😉

  24. Majority Will says:

    “Richard Nixon’s re-election committee”

    – a.k.a the Committee for the Re-Election of the President and a great acronym: CREEP.

  25. Bob says:

    Does anyone else get their checks from SorosCo LLC signed by “Marian S. Robinson?” I probably should switch over to direct deposit.

  26. Soduko says:

    Bitcoins, babeeee !

  27. Daniel says:

    Bob:
    Does anyone else get their checks from SorosCo LLC signed by “Marian S. Robinson?”I probably should switch over to direct deposit.

    Oh hell yes, and once you get your high interest special account set up in the Bahama, it’s way easier.

  28. I make seven figures a year, but I’m worth it.

    $0.000000 is seven figures, right?

    All my ideas are worth twice their weight in gold. This one weighs … oh, wait.

  29. Andrew Vrba, PmG says:

    Comrade Fogovich: $0.000000 is seven figures, right?

    Daaaaaaamn, that’s Ashy Larry rich!

  30. sfjeff says:

    I always tell Birthers that accuse me of being paid to point out their dreck that I absolutely am paid less by Obama than they are by the RNC….

  31. Lupin says:

    Yoda: It is far more likely that Martha Trowbridge, Carl Gallups, Geir Smith, Orly Taitz and Larry Klayman are working on behalf of the government than it is that Foggy, RC, Dr. Conspiracy or NBC are government agents.

    I totally agree with this.

    I have questioned in the past Apuzzo’s sincerity, for example. I can’t help feel (sometimes) that he really is acting as a paid shill, but I don’t know his paymaster.

  32. The Magic M says:

    That latter conspirator role has become an increasing theme in comments and tweets from certain fringe sources.

    A main reason is that this is one of the typical stages of a conspiracy theory (like the 5 stages of loss and grief).
    When the believers realize, after years of believing that the conspiracy will be exposed “any day now”, that the almighty conspirators are out of their reach, they turn their punishment fantasies to the alleged followers/enablers of the conspiracy because they think that everyday people are easier to “get” or influence.

    In case of birtherism, fantasies of stringing up Soros and Obama gradually become replaced with fantasies of shooting/torturing Obama supporters and anti-birthers.

    The final stage, shortly before switching to a new conspiracy theory, will be going after anyone for ignoring whatever happened in the past (“we cannot have a legal 45th President until Obama’s presidency is stricken from the history books”).

  33. Bovril says:

    Lupin: I totally agree with this.

    I have questioned in the past Apuzzo’s sincerity, for example. I can’t help feel (sometimes) that he really is acting as a paid shill, but I don’t know his paymaster.

    I believe (and am happy to be corrected) that a general feeling is that Kerchner has been throwing money at the bottomless pit that is the Altar of Apuzzo.

  34. Kerchner said that in the beginning he was looking for an attorney would take his case pro bono. That would lead me to think that Apuzzo is actually acting pro bono, or being paid by a 3rd party.

    Apuzzo is still arguing his position in chat rooms as of last week.

    Bovril: I believe (and am happy to be corrected) that a general feeling is that Kerchner has been throwing money at the bottomless pit that is the Altar of Apuzzo.

  35. Lupin says:

    Dr. Conspiracy: Kerchner said that in the beginning he was looking for an attorney would take his case pro bono. That would lead me to think that Apuzzo is actually acting pro bono, or being paid by a 3rd party.

    In view of his past career as an ambulance chaser, who here believes that Apuzzo would be working pro bono on anything?

    I’m not saying that, like any defense attorney, he hasn’t managed to convince himself, to some extent, that his cause is just, but I can’t believe that he is working for free.

    Either as Bovril said, Kerchner is paying him, or someone else is.

    To the extent that he always refused (when asked directly by myself) to confirm the former — an easy and harmless thing to do if it were true — I’m inclined to think he’s paid by someone else.

    As we all know, deligitimizing the so-called “anchor babies” is high on the political; agenda of various racist organization.

    Even if Apuzzo fails in his quixotic quest to unseat Obama (which surely he & his paymasters understand is unrealistic), he has nevertheless succeeded in propagandizing the “two citizen parents” notion — which, by the way, isn’t new since you find it in the KKK’s founding documents.

    What I’m saying is that, thanks to Apuzzo, there are more people today who (mistakenly) believe that a true American is one born of two American parents than there were before this rigamarole started.

    To some extent, his paymasters must be happy because he had unflaggingly delivered.

    If someday there’s some movement in Congress or in some States to make children born on US soil of undocumented aliens less than full citizens, the seed will have been planted by Apuzzo — and he will be quoted by the defenders of such a cause(doomed by demographics in my opinion) as a great visionary thinker.

  36. The Magic M says:

    Lupin: If someday there’s some movement in Congress or in some States to make children born on US soil of undocumented aliens less than full citizens

    With the current GOP’s stance towards “illegal aliens”, that would be something quite likely on the agenda of a future RNC platform – unless they manage to turn the wheel around and expel their extremists.

    And you are right; it makes sense. For birtherism, it never made sense because I always knew people would not be willing to delve into intricacies of Constitutional law about the definition of “natural born”, so that was a non-starter from an anti-Obama propaganda point of view.

    Then again, I’ve always believed birtherism was one of the last lines of defense of the WASP extremists who feel the time has come when “President = white male” was no longer a given. The way demographics and voter opinion go, it’s far more likely there will be many more non-whites, women, homosexuals etc. among future US Presidents. (Personally, I would’ve bet you’d have your first female President long before your first black President, but the US never cease to amaze me. 😉 Well, my money is on Hillary for 2016-2024 and after that possibly your first openly gay President – Germany already had an openly gay Vice Chancellor with Guide Westerwelle from 2009 to 2011.)

  37. The European says:

    Magic M, our (not so) beloved “Guido” has now advanced from Vice-Chancellor to “Führer” = “Guide” ?

  38. And remember those full-page ads in the Washington Times. It sounds like a third party is bankrolling the effort.

    Lupin: In view of his past career as an ambulance chaser, who here believes that Apuzzo would be working pro bono on anything?

  39. Rickey says:

    Dr. Conspiracy:
    And remember those full-page ads in the Washington Times. It sounds like a third party is bankrolling the effort.

    I have always suspected that Mario’s primary job was to sow doubts about Obama in an effort to have him defeated in 2012, and I am sure that there is someone with money who financed the effort. I’ve worked for many attorneys over the years, and I don’t know one who would spend as much time on hopeless pro bono work as Mario has spent going after Obama. And he repeatedly refused to answer when he was asked here about who was bankrolling him.

    Mario was in over his head from the beginning. I remember the time he was schooled by Dwight Sullivan at CAAFlog about how SCOTUS works. When Kerchner v. Obama was scheduled for a conference without a response from Obama, Dwight told Mario that his case had been dead filed and that his petition had in effect already been denied. Mario went ballistic and refused to believe it.

    Birthing has been going on for nearly six years and the birthers still haven’t found a single real Constitutional lawyer to take up their cause. That should tell them a lot, but of course it never sinks in.

  40. Yoda says:

    Rickey: I have always suspected that Mario’s primary job was to sow doubts about Obama in an effort to have him defeated in 2012, and I am sure that there is someone with money who financed the effort. I’ve worked for many attorneys over the years, and I don’t know one who would spend as much time on hopeless pro bono work as Mario has spent going after Obama. And he repeatedly refused to answer when he was asked here about who was bankrolling him.

    Mario was in over his head from the beginning. I remember the time he was schooled by Dwight Sullivan at CAAFlog about how SCOTUS works. When Kerchner v. Obama was scheduled for a conference without a response from Obama, Dwight told Mario that his case had been dead filed and that his petition had in effect already been denied. Mario went ballistic and refused to believe it.

    Birthing has been going on for nearly six years and the birthers still haven’t found a single real Constitutional lawyer to take up their cause. That should tell them a lot, but of course it never sinks in.

    One of the things that I have repeatedly asked birthers is about this very thing. If there was any truth to birtherism at all, how come the leading legal face is Orly Taitz?

  41. Yoda says:

    Also, if there really is a criminal investigation, why is the greatest crime in the history of the world being investigated by a used car salesman?

    Why is the leading talking head a phony pastor from Florida on a dinky local radio station?

  42. Arthur says:

    Yoda: If there was any truth to birtherism at all, how come the leading legal face is Orly Taitz?

    Yoda: Why is the leading talking head a phony pastor from Florida on a dinky local radio station?

    Conspiracists always have an easy answer to these telling questions: everyone else is being bribed or threatened, and only a brave few are willing to risk their lives, their reputations, and their livelihood to reveal the truth.

  43. The Magic M (not logged in) says:

    The European: Magic M, our (not so) beloved “Guido” has now advanced from Vice-Chancellor to “Führer” = “Guide” ?

    Just an innocent typo. 😉

    Ever heard the epithet “Der Führer war ein armes Schwein, er hatte keinen Führerschein”?

  44. Slartibartfast says:

    That was always my suspicion as well but someone (I believe it was Unknown a/k/a NotLinda who frequently spars with Mario) said that Mario claimed to have taken Kerchner’s case pro bono. That said, I would be surprised if Mario has been cranking out his logorrhea for this long without being on the clock.

    Bovril: I believe (and am happy to be corrected) that a general feeling is that Kerchner has been throwing money at the bottomless pit that is the Altar of Apuzzo.

  45. Crustacean says:

    The Magic M (not logged in): Ever heard the epithet “Der Führer war ein armes Schwein, er hatte keinen Führerschein”?

    Burma shave! 🙂

    OK, then how do you explain this blurb from 2010 (Harper’s Magazine):

    TRIUMPH OF THE WHEEL

    From a September 13, 1924, letter to Jakob Werlin, a Mercedes-Benz car salesman, from Adolf Hitler. At the time of the letter, Hitler was writing Mein Kampf while serving a thirteen-month sentence in Landsberg Prison for his involvement in the Beer Hall Pusch. In July 2010 this letter and several others that Hitler had written from prison were sold at auction in Furth, Germany, for $33,400. Translated from the German by Natascha Hoffmeyer.

    Dear Mr. Werlin!

    After reflecting upon our conversation today, I would like to ask you, dear Mr. Werlin, to perhaps intercede for me in two ways. Generally, I am convinced that an 11/40 would suit my present needs. The only thing that is perhaps influencing me is the fact that it runs 300 rotations faster than the 16/50. I would be grateful if you could let me know in your next letter whether you think an rpm of 2250 isn’t so high that a car might suffer in the short run.

    As I said, this is the only thing that makes me cautious about the 11/40, because I will not be able to afford a new car in two or three years and I cannot take the time every few years to find better, more lucrative work. However, I would like to ask you to perhaps also inquire into what kind of a rebate I would get with either a 16/50 or a 11/40. Also whether there is an 11/40 available in gray with wire-spoke wheels.

    The difficulty for me, of course, is that — even in the case of my release on October 1 — larger revenues from my book will not be available until mid-December, so I am forced to ask for an advance or loan. It goes without saying that several thousand marks make a difference, as I also have to pay my court and legal costs immediately, which are already making my hair stand on end. Thus, I sincerely ask that you put in a good word for me, since my chance of a purchase generally depends on it.

    In any event, I would like to ask you to reserve the gray car you in have in Munich until I have clarity regarding my fate (probation?). I will let you know immediately whether I will be released in October and whether I will be able to buy a car.

    Yours most respectfully,

    Adolf Hitler

  46. Daniel says:

    Slartibartfast: That said, I would be surprised if Mario has been cranking out his logorrhea for this long without being on the clock.

    Perhaps he’s arguing in his spare time?

    Gooooooooooooooooooood a’nnnniiiiiiiiiiiiiiight

  47. bob says:

    I believe Apuzzo obsessively responds to comments on his blog and elsewhere for free; he’s not paid to do so. He motivated by ego: he simply must prove that he’s right, and everyone else is wrong.

    Which makes trolling him all the easier.

  48. Arthur says:

    bob: He motivated by ego: he simply must prove that he’s right, and everyone else is wrong.

    I get the same feeling. Of course, when he had the chance to prove he was right before a judge, he was embarrassingly ham-handed in his delivery; the only thing he proved was that he’s an inept lawyer with a deficient argument.

  49. Rickey says:

    bob:
    I believe Apuzzo obsessively responds to comments on his blog and elsewhere for free; he’s not paid to do so.He motivated by ego: he simply must prove that he’s right, and everyone else is wrong.

    Which makes trolling him all the easier.

    That is probably the case now. Obama was re-elected and there is nothing that anyone can do about it. But I doubt that Mario put up his own money to pay for those newspaper ads.

    And you’re correct that Mario will never admit that he was wrong. He couldn’t even bring himself to admit that the Pakistan travel ban never happened.

  50. Dr. Kenneth Noisewater says:

    Rickey: That is probably the case now. Obama was re-elected and there is nothing that anyone can do about it. But I doubt that Mario put up his own money to pay for those newspaper ads.

    And you’re correct that Mario will never admit that he was wrong. He couldn’t even bring himself to admit that the Pakistan travel ban never happened.

    Oh you mean he didn’t try to claim he never said there was a travel ban like he has the last few times it was mentioned to him?

  51. Andrew Vrba, PmG says:

    Wow!!! When your claims are too outlandish and stupid for the likes of Orly Taitz, that’s something truly special! That’s something to almost be proud of.
    I guess a new birther hero hand to be invented, since March is almost upon us, and Zullo will be made to look the fool yet again.

  52. RanTalbott says:

    Arrogantlyignorant: There’s a commenter on YouTube who goes by mollesjohn. He says that I and other Obots are paid to “scroll off” his comments so Congress won’t see them.

    And I doubt (despite the hints he’s been given) that he appreciates the irony of the fact that he almost always makes his complaint by starting a new thread.

    Although I occasionally do wonder whether I’m actually getting to the truth when I mock him by claiming that he’s actually starting new threads to scroll off the ones where he got some portion of his anatomy handed to him…

  53. bob says:

    Rickey: But I doubt that Mario put up his own money to pay for those newspaper ads.

    IIRC, Kerchner has all but said he pays for those.

  54. Dr. Kenneth Noisewater says:

    Arrogantlyignorant:
    There’s a commenter on YouTube who goes by mollesjohn. He says that I and other Obots are paid to “scroll off” his comments so Congress won’t see them.

    I’m shooting for the yellow Lamborghini bonus Mr Soros is offering as incentive.

    Yep I remember him. He also claimed you, I and any other obot are all the same person. His major claim to fame is that he made youtubes copying other birther claims about the pdf. He can never answer any direct questions.

  55. roadburner says:

    Dr. Kenneth Noisewater: Yep I remember him. He also claimed you, I and any other obot are all the same person. His major claim to fame is that he made youtubes copying other birther claims about the pdf. He can never answer any direct questions.

    he’s my bitch 😀

    whenever i see him pop up on a video, i remind him of the question i’ve been asking him for over a year that he refuses to answer, and he normally huffs and runs away.

    he’s using the `sandstone’ alt now – caught him a couple of weeks back

  56. Dr. Kenneth Noisewater says:

    roadburner: he’s my bitch whenever i see him pop up on a video, i remind him of the question i’ve been asking him for over a year that he refuses to answer, and he normally huffs and runs away.he’s using the `sandstone’ alt now – caught him a couple of weeks back

    whatever happened to that crazy lady we ran into who ended up changing her name and we caught her. She was full of crazy and would hang out with molles and that revolution whackjob.

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